Russian court issues arrest warrant for opposition figure Navalnaya

A Russian court issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday for opposition politician Yulia Navalnaya, who lives in exile abroad, on allegations of being involved in an "extremist organization."

Yulia Navalnaya is the widow of Russian opposition leader and frequent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who died in February in a prison camp north of the Arctic Circle in unexplained circumstances.

A court spokesman in Moscow announced that the court had granted the public prosecutor's request for pre-trial detention, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

The pre-trial detention is initially set for two months and will come into effect after Navalny's extradition to Russia, the spokesman said. The politician has been declared a wanted person.

Navalnaya has blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for her husband's death and announced her intention to continue Navalny's fight for democracy in Russia.

Navalny had been sentenced to many years in prison by Russian courts for extremism, among other things.

Navalnaya herself lives abroad because of the danger she faces in Russia. She has so far given no indication of when she intends to return to Russia.

However, people who the Kremlin views as hostile opponents are not always safe abroad either. There have been repeated incidents of Russian opposition members living in exile becoming victims of attacks.